Drought in Shelby County, IN: 1.2 years in 10 since 2000

1.2 years in 10

Shelby County, IN: 3 of 26 full years had 13+ weeks in drought. Less drought-prone than most US counties.

1. 10
2. 4
3. 2
4. 0
5. 0
6. 0
7. 0
8. 16
9. 0
10. 0
11. 10
12. 7
13. 17
14. 0
15. 0
16. 0
17. 0
18. 0
19. 0
20. 0
21. 3
22. 0
23. 9
24. 14
25. 9
26. 0

20002025

Drought years: 2007 (16 wk), 2012 (17 wk) and 2023 (14 wk). Not a single drought week in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2025.

A regular lawn is fine here; plan for the odd dry year

Real droughts are rare here. A smart controller that skips watering after rain covers the odd dry year.

You can keep a regular lawn. Worth doing: a rain-sensing or smart controller, and deeper, less frequent watering if Sep turns dry.

Against the rest of IN

68th most drought-prone of 92 IN counties; the IN middle is 1.5 in 10. Closest on the list: Brown County (1.2 in 10) and Bartholomew County (1.2 in 10). Driest in IN: LaGrange County (3.5 in 10). Least drought: Floyd County (0.4 in 10).

When in the year it hits

Most often in Sep (16% of weeks), then Oct (14%) and Aug (10%). Least in Mar (0%). May to September averages 9%.

1. 8 Jan
2. 4 Feb
3. 0 Mar
4. 2 Apr
5. 3 May
6. 5 Jun
7. 8 Jul
8. 10 Aug
9. 16 Sep
10. 14 Oct
11. 10 Nov
12. 7 Dec

The worst year: 2012

2012: 17 weeks in drought, peaking at D3 extreme. Across 1,401 weekly maps: 7.2% of all weeks at D1 or worse, 2.3% at D2, 0.5% at D3, never any D4. Longest unbroken spell: 17 weeks, Jun 19, 2012 to Oct 9, 2012.

Lately

Last drought year: 2023, 14 weeks. 2016-2025: 1 in 10, against 1.3 in 10 for 2000-2015, about the same. So far in 2026: 0 of 44 weeks in drought, through Nov 3, 2026.

Further reading

Shelby County lands on the plan covered in keeping a regular lawn. Its worst year, 2012, was one of the worst nationally too; see the worst years since 2000. How each of Shelby County's 1,401 weeks was judged: how drought is counted.